Automatic delivery mechanism



July 26, 1932.

P. NAEHER AUTOMATIC DELIVERY MECHANI SM Fil-ed May 24, 1929 63 w W a 6% v 0 &

Paul n e/L671 D 5 Sheefs-She'et, 1

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 M y w i W I P. NAEHER Filed May 24, 1929 AUTOMATIC DELIVERY MECHANISM ggg July 26, 1932.

ZYEJ 1/ Pad-Z 726297267.

July 26, 1932. P. NAEHER AUTOMATIC DELIVERY MECHANISM Filed May 24, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented July 26, 1932 l 7 I earner emcernnn nan-Han, or cnreneo,irrlLinois nssienon TO B. rieuirr oo or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A oonronsrioiv OFILLINOIS I AUTOMATIC DELIVERY MECHANISM a praisal; n as 24, 1329. Serial No; man.

This invention relates to an automatic deand pulley arenot shown: The belt 1 travels livery mechanism primarily designed for use between the walls 18 as shown in Figure 2; in connection with packing conveyors but These walls are connected'to a base which is d g df th uses, p in turn connected to the operating mechanism .1 y The main object of this invention is to proof the machine whereby the walls are rocked vide an automatic delivery mechanism which the bags pass therebetween for the puris set in operationhy the weight of the article pose of settling the contents in the bags. placed thereon for delivering the article to However, as this does not involve any part a desired point. In the illustrated embodiof this invention it has not been fully i1lusment of the invention, the article is shown tinted. Beneath the conveyor 1, there is a 9 as delivered to a traveling conveyor and on motor 5 which" is geared by sprocket gearing account of the automatic feature of the de 6 to a shaft 7. Shaft 7 carries a gear 8 which livery mechanism, the operator is enabled to meshes with a gear 9 secured to a shaft 10. workat any speed he desires without having It might he'inentioned that the walls 18 are m to gauge the time. connected with the shafts 7 and 10 forrock- 5 The invention comprises the novel struciilg movement. The shaft 7 through the inture and combination of parts hereinafter destrumel m l y 0f it ge 11 drives it gear 12 scribed and more particularly pointed out on a shaft 18. Theshaft 18 carries a small and defined in the appended claims. beveled plnio'nll which in turn drives a a In the accompanying drawings which illusbeveled I gear ,l51S C 1113011 3 Shaft trate a preferred form of this invention and This shaft 16 is geared by sprocket gearing in which similar reference numerals refer 19 to the left hand pulley for the conveyor to similar features'inthediiierent views: 1 e' iei is mp e to con-1 Figure l is a central vertical sectionalview v y r v A i 2, taken through a packing conveyor andthe The PP L involving this iIlVeIltiOIl is delivery mechanism involving this invention. designed; fo delivering p k g s 01 articles Figure. 2 is an enlarged sectional iew C othe conveyor 1. This apparatus consists taken upon the line II IT ofFigure 1. of a stand 20 which is provided at its up- Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view per end with laterally inwardly directed taken'upon the line TIL- TH of Figure 1. dg 21 and p nding anges 22 which 86 Fi 4 i an l y dhr cti li Vi form seats andattachingmeans forithe side taken through the automatic delivery "mechf- Walls 23, 0f the casing; The ends of the anjsm i l i thi i tio staiidare provided with inwardly directed I Th i ti i its b d t t flanges 24 upon whichthe sidewalls 23 also :7. sists of a delivery mechanism which is set B Shown in g r At intermediate in motion by the weight of the article placed P s t i Walls 8 C nnect d by thereon and which automatically returns to braces 5- Support 26 which consists of its normal. position as soon as the article is a-narrow strip is secured to h t p Of th removed therefrom. In the present embodibraces fl 2 ll endless Chain 27 ment or this invention, this delivery ame'chah sit pp r reach traveling Over d pen nism is adapted'to deliver'bags toa travelp rt o p ev nt saggi g th reof. This endconveyor is hOWn upon lgSS chain lS pI'OVldGCl Wlth SPELCQd impelthe left hand side of the drawings in Figure 1mg spurs 28 an is adapted to be rotated- 1. This packing conveyor is old and well around terminal sprockets 29 which are mown in the art and only a brief descripadapted tobe secured on suitablesha-fts jourion thereof is necessary, nalled in the walls'23 of the casing in any Referring to Figure 1, it will he noted that approved manner; 4

the packing conveyor consists of an endless pair of three armed levers 30 are pivoted belt 1 whichtravels around the pulleys 17, to the walls '23 of the casing as indicated no 2, 3 and i. The-left hand endofthebelt at 31in Figure 4. The levers 30 have arms i have also rearwardly directed arms 301) hich extend rear'wardly' from the pivot point 31. These rearwardly directed arms 30?) have depending arms 34 pivotally connected thereto and between the lower ends of the arms 34 there is secured a counterweight 35. The levers 30 also have depending arms 300 which extend downwardly approximate ly from the pivot point 31. The lower ends of the arms 300 are connected to the forward end of links 36 which extend in horizontal direction to the rear end of the easing. The rear ends of the links 36 are pivoted to the lower arms of bell crank levers 37 which are pivoted at their apices to the side walls of the casing 23 as indicated at 38. The upper arms of the bell crank levers 37 extend in horizontal direction toward the frontend of the casing and are pivoted to the rising and falling platform 33 as indicated L i at 39;

The rising and falling platform 33 is provided with upwardly diverging guide members 40 as shown in Figure 3. A slide or plunger 41 provided with upwardly diverging grooves for receiving the guide members 40 is supported upon the platform. A casing member 42 is attached to the slide 41 and the forward end of this casing member is in the form of a vertical abutment 43 which is adapted for engaging the bags and shifting them to the conveyor 1 as will later more fully appear.

Mechanism has been provided for connecting the slide 41 with the endless chain 27 when a filled bag has been deposited upon the forward end of the rising and falling platform which it will be noted projects forwardly of the bag engaging abutment 43. This mechanism has a certain amount of lost motion before the slide 41 is actuated in order to allow any drippings from the hopper to fall into the bag upon the platform. In the illustrated embodiment of this invention this mechanism comprises a slide block 44 which is slidably dovetailed in the slide plate 41. In other words, the slide block 44 has a slidable interlocking relation with the slide 41. The slide block 44 has a depending abutment 45 which is adapted to be engaged by a spur 2S on the endless chain whereby the slide block 44 may be propelled in a forward direction. Upon the upper surface of the slide block 44 there is secured an abutment 46 which is adapted to travel between a forward abutme nt 47 and a rear abutment 48 carried by the slide 41. Vith reference to Figure 4, it

will be noted that the slide block 44 will travel allow plenty of time for the drippings in the hopper to drop into the bag on the platform before it is shifted upon the conveyor 1. This lost motion interval may be varied by moving the abutment 47 forwardly or rearwardly. To this end the abutment 47 is adjust-ably secured by means of removable screws. A coiled leaf spring 49 is mounted upon the rear part of the casing that encloses the endless chain 27 and this leaf spring is connected with the slide 44 for retracting the same. The leaf spring 49 is adapted for retracting the slide block 44 and the slide 41 when the same have been elevated after a bag has been delivered to the conveyor 1. The rearward movement of the slide block 44 and the slide 41 is limited by a rubber stop member 50 which is secured to the rear end of the rising and falling platform 33.

The forward end of the rising and falling platform 33 which receives the bags or articles to be delivered is provided with suitable slots forming a sort of grid in order to allow spillings to fall therethrough. To intercept the spillings a suitable receptacle 51 is placed therebeneath. The aforementioned stand 20 is provided with suitable means for supporting the receptacle 51.

The endless sprocket chain 27 is adapted to be continuously driven by the packing eonveyor. To this end suitable sprocket gearing 52 connects the forward sprocket 29 with the rear sprocket 17 of the packing conveyor. This sprocket gearing 52 is so designed that speed of the chain 27 will substantially equal 7! that of the packing conveyor 1 in order that the bag may be delivered to the conveyor 1 at the same speed that the conveyor 1 is travelmg.

In the drawings. there is shown a feed 1.5

hopper 53 beneath which the bag that is adapted to be filled may be held by the operator. When this bag is filled or substantially filled, the operator will allow the same to fall upon the platform 33. As soon as the bag is deposited upon the platform 33, the delivery mechanism will automatically be set in mo tion for delivering the bag to the packing conveyor 1. Consequentlythe operator may work at any speed he desires since the operai tion of the delivery mechanism is not governed by any timed elements. 7

In the operation of the apparatus before described, the weight of the bag or article upon the platform 33 will cause the same to is.

descend and actuate the levers 30. The actuation of the lovers 30 will cause the rear levers 37 to be actuated and as the levers 37 are connected to the rising and falling plat- 45 is located in the path of the impellers 28 on the chain 27. As the chain 27 is constantly revolving an impeller 28 will engage the rear surface of the abutment 45 and slide the block 44 in a forward direction.

The

slide block 44 will move forwardly a certain amount before it actuates the slideplunger 41 and during this time an opportunity will be afforded for any drippings or leanings in the hopper 53 to drop into the bag; Then the slide block 44 has moved forwardly a suliicient distance for taking the abutment 46 into engagement withthe abutment 4?, the sllde plunger will be carried along with the slide block 44in a forward direction with the result that the vertical abutment 43 will engage the bag upon the forward end of the platform 33 and shift the sametherefrom to the traveling conveyor 1 at the same speed that said traveling conveyor is moving. As soon as the article or bag is ejected fromthe platform 33, the platform 33 will immediately rise due to the action of the counterweight 35. It will be realized, that when the platform 33 descendsthe counterweight arms 34 will swing in an upward direction with the arms b of said lever. Of course it will be realized that the weight of the package or bag should be suiiicient to overcome the effect of the counterweight 35 which is designed for normally holding the different parts in balance. When the bag is ejected from the platform 33 and the weight 35 is descending two levers 30 and 37 will be actuated for elevating the slide blockv 44 together with the slide plunger and platform for the purpose of removingthe abutment 45 from the path of the chain impellers 28. At about this same time the spring 49 will be effective for retracting the slide bar 44. The slide bar 44 will first be retracted without moving the slide plunger 41 due to the lost motion existing between the abutments 47 and 48. When the slide block 44 has been retracted until the abutment 46 engages the rear stop 48, the slide plunger will be retracted into the position shown in Figure 4. At the rearward movement. of the slide block 44, it will engage the rubber abutment 50 which acts as a stop to limit further rearward movement.

In this position the delivery mechamsm is set for receiving another bag for delivery to the packing conmade and numerous details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention, and I, therefore, do not purpose limiting the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the prior art.

2. In an apparatus of the class described,

an upwardly and downwardly movableplati form adapted for receiving an article thereon, a plunger for e ecting the article fromsaid platform, an endless member-beneath said platform, said endless member having driv+ ing impellers, an actuator :forsaid plunger having an abutment adapted for engagement with an impeller upon the lowering ,ofsaid platform and a lost motion connection betweensaid actuator and plunger. p A

8. The combination with a traveling con-v veyor, of a delivery mechanism for supplying articles to said conveyorcomprising an endless member having jthesame rate of speed assaid conveyor, a plungernorma'lly disengaged from said endless member and means for operatively connecting said plunger and endless member when an article is deposited upon-said delivery mechanism. i 4. The combination with a conveyor, of delivery mechanism for supplying articles to said conveyor at the samerate of; travel as said conveyor including anendless member and a plunger embodying aslidable depending member normally disengaged from said endless member but; adapted for eifectingfa driving relation with said endless member when an article is deposited uponsaid delivery mechanism.- I Y I 1 5L In a delivery mechanism of the class described,'a platform adapted for receiving an article thereon. a plunger for ejecting the.

article from saidplatform, anendless driving member beneath said platform, an actuator for operating said plunger and normally out of engagement with said endless member, means whereby said platform and plunger descend when an article is deposited on said, platform for effecting an engagement be-I tween said actuator and endlessmember', and means for elevating said platform and, plungerwhen said article is'ejected fromsaid platform. I

6. Inadelivery mechanism, a pair of p arallel side walls, a; pair. of levers pivoted to said side'walls, a link for ;connecting' said I levers, a platform adapted for receiving articles pivoted to said levers, a counterwelght carried by one, of said leversfornormally holding said platform'in elevated position, a slidable plunger, carried by said platform, said'slidable plunger havingspaced abut merits, an actuator slidably mounted on said plunger and having an abutment located b tween said two abutments, an endless driving element mounted beneath said platform, said actuator having an abutment normally out of driving relation with said endless memher but adapted to be brought into operative relation therewith upon a lowering of said platform, and yielding means connected to said actuator for retracting the same to initial position.

7. In a delivery mechanism of the class described, a platform adapted for receiving an article thereon, a plunger for ejecting the article therefrom, means includinga counterweight for normally holding said platform in an elevated position, an actuator for operating said plunger, an endless driving member beneath said actuator and normally out of driving relation therewith, said platform being adapted to be lowered when an article is placed thereon to bring said actuator in operative relation with said endless (.lriving member, an said counterweight being adapt ed for elevating said platform to bring said actuator out of driving relation with said endless member when the article is ejected from said platform, and means for retracting said actuator and plunger when said plat-- form has been elevated.

8. In a del very mechanism of the class described a platform adapted for receiving articles thereon, means for supporting said platform for lowering and elevating move ment including a counterweight for normally holding said platform in elevated position, an article ejecting plunger slidably mounted upon said platform, and driving mechanism for said plunger en 'ageable upon a lowering of said platform and disengageable upon the elevation of said platform and means for automatically retracting said plunger upon the elevation of said platform.

9. In a delivery mechanism of the class described,a platform adapted for receiving an article thereon, interconnected levers for sustaining said platform for lowering and elevating movement, a counterweight connected to one of said lev'ersfor normally holding said platform in elevated position, said counterweight being overbalanced by the article placed thereon for causing a lowering of said platform, an ejecting plunger slidably mounted upon said platform, a slidable actuator carried by said plunger, an endless driving member beneath said platform, said actuator and driving member being adapted for coming into operative relation upon the lowering of said platform and being disengageable upon the elevation of said platform, and said counterweight being effective for elevating said platform when the article has been ejected therefrom.

10. In a delivery mechanism of the class described, a platform, means for supporting said platform for a lowering and elevating movement, means for normally holding said platform in elevated position, said last mentioned means being adapted to be overcome by the weight of an article placed upon said platform for lowering the same, a slidable ejector mounted upon said platform, and operating means for said ejector adapted to actuate said ejector upon the lowering of said platform, and render it ineffective upon the elevation of said platform and means for retracting said ejector upon the elevation of said platform.

11. In an apparatus of the class described,

a platform adapted for receiving articles thereon, levers for supporting said platform for lowering and elevating movements, a device for ejecting articles from said platform, an endless member, and impellers on said endless member for actuating said dc vice when said platform is lowered.

12. The combination with a belt conveyor, of delivery mechanism for feeding articles to said conveyor comprising an endless member having substantially the smile rate of speed as said belt conveyor, a platform above said endless member for receiving articles thereon, means for supporting said platform for lowerii and elevating movements, at device for ejecting the articles from said platform to said belt conveyor, and means on said endless member for actuating said device upon the lowering of said platform.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subsc ibed my name at Chicago, Cook County,

s 1 Illinois.

PAUL NAEHER.

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